Report: Alabama in nation's top 10 for rate of fatal injuries

Alabama has the 10th-highest rate of death from injuries, including traffic accidents. (AP Photo/Tuscaloosa News, Michelle Lepianka Carter)

Alabama has the 10th-highest rate of death from injuries in the nation, according to a report released today by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Injuries -- including those caused by accidents and violence -- are a major public health problem in the United States, the authors of the report said in a press conference this morning. Injury is the leading cause of death for Americans ages 1 to 44, and one person dies from an injury every three minutes.

The cost can be enormous. In Alabama in a single year, according to estimates from 2005, the total medical costs from fatal injuries was $29.1 million, and the lifetime work loss costs were $3.4 billion.

The Trust for America's Health surveys states to see if they have adopted evidence-based policies meant to reduce the number of injuries each year and prevent deaths. Alabama scored relatively well in this, meeting six of the 10 key indicators, including laws requiring seat belts, motorcycle helmets and bike helmets, as well as an active prescription drug monitoring program and a strong concussion law. Andrea Gielen, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, said that state laws may not be enough.

"We all have a role to play, and individuals can take initiative," she said. "A lot of people are just not aware of injury as a problem and how to prevent it."